


5 Times Jack Spoke about Brian and Jimmy

by orphan_account



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Character Death, F/M, M/M, Mentions of Cancer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-29
Updated: 2014-07-29
Packaged: 2018-02-10 22:48:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2043198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Brian Zeller joins the forensics team at the BAU Jack has to put up with his ever evolving relationship with Jimmy Price, and his wife Bella is the one who gets to hear all about it. As her life takes a turn for the worst, she finds comfort in Jack's stories about the two scientists.</p>
            </blockquote>





	5 Times Jack Spoke about Brian and Jimmy

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to [Charli](http://eattheclones.tumblr.com) for proof reading this. You're a star.

**1.**

Jack lay his knife and fork across the plate with a clink, and smiled up at his wife who had already finished her meal. The restaurant was beginning to quieten down and conversation flowed easily between the couple as they ordered another glass of wine each.

“Did you say you had someone new start today?” Bella asked. “Zeller? If I recall correctly.”

Jack nodded, and took a sip from his glass. “Brian Zeller. Guess how that went down.”

Bella laughed, the corners of her eyes crinkling. “Is Jimmy giving the poor man a hard time already?” she asked. Jack joined in with a chuckle, shaking his head at the way his oldest co-worker and friend had been behaving all day.

“It’s worse than when Bev started. They have been at each other’s throats all day and both of them were too stubborn to back down. It didn’t help that it ended up being Brian’s theory that worked out,” he told her. Bella's face continued to light up with her smile, as she reached across the table to take Jack’s hand.

“They’ll work it out. Jimmy may be a handful but look at his friendship with Beverly now, I’m sure Brian and he will be getting along in no time.”

Jack lay his other hand over Bella’s, it had been so long since they’d had a night out together with the hours they both worked.

“Let’s go home,” he suggested. “We can talking about the chaos of the BAU labs another time, tonight’s about us.”

**2.**

“I miss you,” Jack said into the phone. He was sat in his office at the BAU, the sun had set hours ago but he was still here working into the night. He could have gone home, but recently the idea of going back to the empty house whilst Bella was away with work had become difficult. He needed to hold her, and for her to tell him everything was going to be okay.

“One more week,” she replied, her voice sounded tired. She wanted to be at home as much as Jack did. She needed Jack more than ever, the last few weeks had taken their toll. “Tell me about work, talk to me,” she said. “How are Brian and Jimmy getting along?” Jack could hear her smile, and that made him feel better.

“They’ve surprised me, in fact. They had a case last week which they both disagreed with me on, and after they solved it they’ve been getting on well. It’s actually worse than before,” he laughed.

“And when you say you disagreed with them…” Bella replied.

“Well,” Jack laughed. “That’s what they thought. And it worked.”

Bella laughed as well, but it didn’t have the same lightness it used to. It sounded forced and heavy, as though she wanted more than anything to laugh freely, but everything was resting heavily on her shoulders and quite simply, she was exhausted by it all.

“I’m pleased,” she said.

“Me too, they’re a pain in the ass but at least they’re not butting heads over every single detail of cases anymore. And they’re going out for drinks when their shifts are over, so it looks like it’s genuine rather than just forcibly getting along during work hours.”

“That’s great, Jack.”

The line was silent for a while, they listened to each other breathe and wished that they were together.

“I need a holiday Jack,” Bella said.

“We’ll go to Italy,” Jack promised her. “We’ll both retire and we’ll get a little place out there, and every evening we can walk along the beach and watch the sun set. And all the men will still be calling you Bella.”

“I’ll always be your Bella,” she whispered to him, scared of the idea that one day she might not be. That she would slip away and Jack would move on. “I’m tired, Jack.”

“I’ll let you sleep,” he told her. “I’ll phone you tomorrow. I love you.”

“I love you too, Jack.

**3.**

Bella wanted to talk about anything other than her treatment.  On one hand she was glad to know that the reason for how she’d been feeling recently was this disease waging war on her body. On the other hand she wanted to pretend it wasn’t happening as much as she could, and more than anything she didn’t want Jack to have to worry about it.

She had her back turned away Jack as he sat up, reading through a report. A thought crossed her mind as she rolled her, brushing a long strand of hair from her pillow before Jack saw. He wanted to talk about it, he wanted to be there for her, but she wouldn’t let him.

“How’s Jimmy?” she asked. Jack looked up from the report, his usual stoic expression flickered into one of annoyance.

“Driving me mad,” he said. He put the file down onto the bedside table and lifted his arm to make room for his wife to cuddle up to him. It crossed his mind to ask how her treatment was going, how she felt, if she needed anything, but it was so much easier to just pretend for a while that everything was okay.

“Tell me,” she encouraged.

“If one of them doesn’t pluck up the courage to admit their feelings I will end up killing them,” he grumbled. “They deal with the most horrific things but when it comes to admitting they’re crazy about each other they’re like children.”

“That’s sweet,” Bella said. “Invite them out for dinner, I want to see them before…” she caught herself as Jack squeezed her tighter.

“Bella-”

“No,” she said sharply. “Don’t, I don’t want to do this now.”

**4.**

Jack hated hospitals, nothing good had ever happened to him in one. The air was always heavy with sickness and bad news, and the cancer bay was the worst of them all. He had fallen asleep in the chair next to Bella’s bed, their fingers entwined as they made best of the last of each other’s company. She slept most of the time now and Jack rarely left her side, refusing to miss any of the moments she was awake and could talk.

Her eyelids fluttered open, and the movement as she tried to sit up woke her husband.

“Hey, hey,” he smoothed, propping up pillows and lifting her into the position she wanted to be in. He poured her a glass of water which he held to her lips with a straw, making it as easy as he could. She signalled for him to put it back after a few sips.

“Go home and get some rest,” she told him, putting a hand on his cheek. He leant into her touch and shook his head.

“I’m staying with you, always,” he told her. She tried to smile, but the sadness in her eyes couldn’t be hidden. She looked around, and noticed the new flowers in the room.

“They’re beautiful, who are they from?”

“Jimmy and Brian, they came to see you but they didn’t want to wake you up,” Jack told her.

“How are they?”

“They’re happy,” Jack told her. Brian and Jimmy had somehow become his support system. He had quickly discovered that behind their antics in the lab, their sense of humour, and their constant bickering, they were two of the kindest men Jack had ever known. The kind of people who would drop everything in an instant to be there for him.

They were happily together now, as Jack as discovered one morning when he walked in on them kissing in the lab. Sometimes Jack felt jealous that they had each other to get through the horrors, and thought about how much longer he would have with Bella.

“Did Brian let Jimmy keep the puppy he found?” she asked. His wife loved Brian and Jimmy, since they’d become and couple, they regularly went out as a group for meals. Sometimes Jimmy would cook for them, but more often than not they preferred to eat in one of Baltimore’s many restaurants.

“They called it Locard,” Jack laughed.

“After Edmund Locard I imagine?” Bella smiled. Jack nodded. “Wake me up if they come again.”

“I will, my love, I will.

**5.**

It was raining, which was typical, Jack thought. It wasn’t poetic rain either, with thunder and storms to mirror how torn up he was inside. It was grey, and dull, and soaking him to the bone, making him more miserable than he already was.

He lay a yellow tulip of her grave, and stood, staring. Waiting perhaps.

“You missed their wedding,” Jack said simply. There was no one around, no one to hear this conversation into the void. “It was yesterday. You would have liked it.”

His words caught in his throat, and he pulled a pained expression trying to keep them down. Bella didn’t need to see him cry.

“It was simple,” he continued. “But you should have seen the look on their faces, Bella. I kept thinking about our wedding, on that beautiful beach in Italy. Seeing you walk towards me that day, in that dress, that smile plastered across your face like someone had given you the moon. I’d never felt more alive, more happy. I wanted to give you everything.”

The wind was picking up now, so he pulled the collar of his coat up around his neck.

“That’s how Brian and Jim looked at each other. They both wore suits as well, you would have been proud. And when they danced together that night, they couldn’t take their eyes away from each other. It was so gentle, so different to how they usually are, and I just couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

“And they mentioned you, Bella. They both made a speech and they both talked about you.”

He couldn’t hold back the tears any longer, his vision began to swim.

“Jimmy’s speech was funny for the most part, he teased Brian, and me, and Beverly of course. But at the end he toasted you, said that he wished you were here in person but knew that you were with them in spirit. Brian held his hand as he said it, you could tell how much you meant to them both.”

He wiped his face, but it didn’t stop the tears.

“Then Brian did his bit. It was short, but…”

His shoulders moved up and down as he began to sob. He didn’t want to be this broken, he was meant to be a rock for the people around him, but his own rock had always been Bella and now she wasn’t here.

“You remember at our wedding when you spoke about your Mother?” he asked. “You made me cry even though I’d never had the chance to meet her. Everyone was touched by the way Brian spoke about you, Bella.”

“We all miss you so much. _I_ miss you so much. I needed more time with you, there was so much we were going to do. We never got to retire together and get that little place in Italy. There’s so many sunsets you’re not going to see now, and I don’t want to see them without you.”

The wind howled through the trees and the rain got heavier, mixing with the tears on his face.

“I’ll see you next week, Bella. I love you.”


End file.
